Frustration for unemployed young French

Wednesday, February 05, 2014 - 02:07

Feb 05 - With youth unemployment growing and the French economy faltering thousands flocked to a Paris jobs fair. As Ciara Sutton reports many young people in France are becoming increasingly desperate and disillusioned.

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A big queue - with good reason.
Hundreds of French youths attended a job fair in Paris - hoping to find some much-needed work.
Over 200 employers were present - with 3,000 jobs on offer.
1 in 4 people under 25 in France is unemployed, a statistic that's worrying investors.
President Francois Hollande has so far been unable to kick-start activity in Europe's second-largest economy.
And he's failed to keep his election pledge to start bringing unemployment down by the end of 2013.
BGC's Mike Ingram says the situation isn't likely to improve any time soon.
SOUNDBITE: Mike Ingram, Senior Strategist, BGC, saying (English):
"I still don't think he gets what needed to be done in order to sort France out as an economy and put it on a more stable footing. He still seems to feel that somehow some form of central planning is appropriate rather than deregulating the economy and making the jobs market more flexible. So yes I think the French malaise or hollandaise is going to continue for some time yet."
Head of recruitment at Club Mediterranee, Vincent Camus, says there are jobs out there.
(SOUNDBITE) (French) HEAD OF RECRUITMENT AT CLUB MEDITERRANEE VINCENT CAMUS SAYING:
"At Club, like a lot of employers, we obviously have a large, large number of candidates for a smaller number of jobs. On the other hand, we are an employer which has seasonal jobs and 1200 jobs were filled last winter, and there are still 800 jobs for the coming spring season, so there are lots of job vacancies."
But many are still struggling to find a job - even skilled workers.
(SOUNDBITE) (French) FORUM ATTENDEE JEAN-MARIE EPAILLARD SAYING:
"Me, I find that the situation is still difficult, you need to know there are five million unemployed in France, or partially unemployed, plus nine million poor people, so it's difficult, and not just only for under qualified people, also for people who are quite qualified like me who are looking for a job."
The number of unemployed is now over 3 million - that's the highest level since records began.

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